Internships

If you are looking for a legal internship that will allow you to work in an international legal environment and handle a variety of legal issues, then CLDP may be just the place for you. CLDP welcomes legal interns to work alongside our international teams to do research and analysis and write legal reports that identify the current opportunities for CLDP to effect international reforms and document the activities of the CLDP teams around the globe.

Our legal interns work with the respective regional teams that currently focus on improving commercial legal environments worldwide. In order to be an intern with CLDP, you must be a U.S. citizen, in or about to begin your second or third year of law school, and remain enrolled in school through the duration of your internship. If you are interested in working with CLDP in this capacity, please send a resume via e-mail with a cover letter outlining your interests to [email protected]. Please be sure to write your name and the term (summer, fall, or spring) you are interested in applying for in the subject line.

Career positions

Both recent law school graduates and experienced attorneys may apply for our attorney positions when they become available. In order to be eligible, an applicant must provide proof of U.S. citizenship and active bar membership (in any U.S. jurisdiction) in addition to meeting the requirements of the specific position. Fluency in a foreign language that is pertinent to the mission of the particular team gives a strong advantage, as well as having hands-on experience in the particular country or region that the position will handle.

There are also several non-attorney positions that support CLDP’s mission. Our International Program Specialists assist the senior counsels and attorney-advisors with the development and implementation of technical assistance activities. This includes identifying and incorporating key strategic, substantive, and procedural considerations into the design and execution of programs and events, researching specific assistance topics, and recruiting, selecting and preparing expert advisors and trainers. Our operations staff handles all of the logistical needs for each CLDP program. This includes coordinating the travel and event logistics necessary for successful programs.

For information about the current makeup and expertise of the present CLDP staff, please visit our staff bios page.

Open Attorney positions

You must be a U.S. citizen and a member of a U.S. State or Territory Bar in good standing to apply. 

Asia-Pacific Team: Candidates should have prior legal experience in the project finance, alternative dispute resolution, infrastructure, and/or trade sectors. In this position, the Attorney-Advisor will be expected to be able to converse with a variety of stakeholders on the legal and regulatory frameworks governing infrastructure projects, including investment and project finance, arbitration, and government contracting. Prior legal experience with the administration, drafting, interpretation, and/or enforcement of legal, regulatory, and/or transactional documents in the infrastructure sector, such as: public-private partnership agreements and/or regulations, infrastructure concessions and contracts, or infrastructure project finance documents. Legal experience in the energy / power sectors also welcome. Prior experience and/or familiarity with working with foreign governments and/or development finance institutions is strongly preferred. Regular international travel to Asia will be required, averaging around 6-8 trips per year to the regional teams’ country partners. CLDP Attorney-Advisors in this position carry out many of their programs in the host countries around the world, and also bring delegations to the U.S. for study tours. Knowledge of a language spoken in the Asia-Pacific region is preferred, but not required. To apply, please send an email with a resume and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line "Re: Asia-Pacific Attorney Position."

Cyber and Telecommunications Team: Competitive candidates should have broad experience in telecommunications and information matters and specific experience in wireless and international ICT governance. The attorneys would serve as both subject matter experts and program managers to conceptualize, design, and implement programs to assist countries in their ICT development and to further opportunities for U.S. businesses. Prior experience and/or familiarity with working with U.S government agencies, interagency stakeholders, and foreign governments is strongly preferred. Regular international travel will be required, averaging around 6-8 trips per year, to global and occasionally domestic destinations. CLDP Attorney-Advisors in this position carry out many of their programs in the host countries around the world and also bring delegations to the U.S. for study tours. Knowledge of Spanish is not required but is preferred. For consideration, send a cover letter and resume to Megan McMillan at [email protected] and [email protected] with the subject line "Re: Cyber and Telecommunications Attorney Position”. For questions about this position or the process, please send an email to Megan McMillan at the same address. 

Energy & Minerals Team: Prior legal experience in the minerals sector, including mining, energy, and/or related infrastructure and supply chain, or other related industrial sectors. In this position, the Attorney-Advisor will be expected to be able to converse with a variety of stakeholders on the legal and regulatory frameworks governing the full life cycle of minerals, including investment and project finance, exploration, exploitation, mining operations, tailings management, mine closure, brownfield development, transportation, and processing. Prior legal experience in natural resource extraction relating to enforcement, permitting/licensing, insolvency, arbitration, project finance, and/or energy and minerals taxation. Prior legal experience with the administration, drafting, interpretation, and/or enforcement of legal, regulatory, and/or transactional documents in the mining sector, such as: mining codes, mining regulations, mining investment agreements and other government instruments, mineral concessions and contracts, or mining project finance documents. Legal experience in the energy / power sectors also welcome. Prior experience and/or familiarity with working with foreign governments and/or development finance institutions is strongly preferred. Regular international travel will be required, averaging around 6-8 trips per year, to global and occasionally domestic destinations. CLDP Attorney-Advisors in this position carry out many of their programs in the host countries around the world, and also bring delegations to the U.S. for study tours. Knowledge of another language is not required but is preferred. To apply, please send an email with a resume and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line "Re: Energy and Minerals Attorney Position."

Eurasia Team: Prior legal experience in Trade, International Business Transactions, Intellectual Property Rights Protection, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Digital Trade, and/or Cybersecurity. In this position, the Attorney-Advisor will be expected to be able to converse with a variety of stakeholders on the legal and regulatory frameworks of Central Asia and the Caucuses. Prior experience and/or familiarity with working with foreign governments and/or development finance institutions is strongly preferred. While knowledge of another language is not required, Russian language fluency is preferred. However, fluency in other languages spoken in Central Asia is also a consideration to include but not limited to: Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz. Regular international travel will be required, averaging around 6-8 trips per year, to global and occasionally domestic destinations. CLDP Attorney-Advisors in this position carry out many of their programs in the host countries around the world, and also bring delegations to the U.S. for study tours. To apply, please send an email with a resume and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line "Re: Eurasia Attorney Position." 

Europe Team: Knowledge of Russian, Ukrainian, or Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian is not required but is preferred.  Candidates should have prior legal experience in trade and investment law including project finance, alternative dispute resolution, government procurement, customs, and intellectual property, and investment security law.  Prior experience drafting or implementing trade and investment legislation or regulations is desirable.  Prior experience and/or familiarity with working with foreign governments and/or development finance institutions is strongly preferred. Regular international travel is required, averaging around 6-8 trips per year to partner countries.  To apply, please send an email with a resume and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line “Re: Europe Attorney Position.”

Latin America Team: Candidates should have prior legal experience in the project finance, alternative dispute resolution, infrastructure, and/or trade sectors. In this position, the Attorney-Advisor will be expected to be able to converse with a variety of stakeholders on the legal and regulatory frameworks governing infrastructure projects, including investment and project finance, arbitration, and government contracting. Prior legal experience with the administration, drafting, interpretation, and/or enforcement of legal, regulatory, and/or transactional documents in the infrastructure sector, such as: public-private partnership agreements and/or regulations, infrastructure concessions and contracts, or infrastructure project finance documents. Legal experience in the energy / power sectors also welcome. Prior experience and/or familiarity with working with foreign governments and/or development finance institutions is strongly preferred. Regular international travel will be required, averaging around 6-8 trips per year to the regional teams’ country partners. CLDP Attorney-Advisors in this position carry out many of their programs in the host countries around the world, and also bring delegations to the U.S. for study tours. Spanish professional fluency is required. To apply, please send an email with a resume and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line "Re: Latin America Attorney Position."

Middle East and Africa Team: Candidates should have prior legal experience in the project finance, alternative dispute resolution, infrastructure, and/or trade sectors. In this position, the Attorney-Advisor will be expected to be able to converse with a variety of stakeholders on the legal and regulatory frameworks governing infrastructure projects, including investment and project finance, arbitration, and government contracting. Prior legal experience with the administration, drafting, interpretation, and/or enforcement of legal, regulatory, and/or transactional documents in the infrastructure sector, such as: public-private partnership agreements and/or regulations, infrastructure concessions and contracts, or infrastructure project finance documents. Legal experience in the energy / power sectors also welcome. Prior experience and/or familiarity with working with foreign governments and/or development finance institutions is strongly preferred. Regular international travel will be required, averaging around 6-8 trips per year to the regional teams’ country partners. CLDP Attorney-Advisors in this position carry out many of their programs in the host countries around the world, and also bring delegations to the U.S. for study tours. Knowledge of French or Arabic is preferred, but not required. To apply, please send an email with a resume and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line "Re: Middle East and Africa Attorney Position."

These positions are based in Washington, D.C. These positions may be filled at the GS 12 to 14 grade level depending on experience. Starting Salary Range is $102,415 to $143,913 with promotion potential to GS-14/10 ($187,093). To qualify for GS-12, applicants must possess a J.D., active U.S. state/territory bar membership, and a minimum of 1 years of relevant professional experience.  To qualify for GS-13, applicants must possess a J.D., active U.S. state/territory bar membership, and a minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience. To qualify for a GS-14, applicants must possess a J.D., active U.S. state/territory bar membership, and a minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience.